| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2] | The freelance translator vs. the salaried translator Auteur du fil: David Hollywood
|
|---|
Williamson 
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 20:38
flamand vers anglais
+ ...
| A freelancer is not free. | Jan 2, 2011 |
An in-house is not asked to give "best rates" with reductions for repetitions and accept late payment as a means of financing budding agencies.
[Edited at 2011-01-02 18:34 GMT]
| | | | Oleg Rudavin
Ukraine
Local time: 22:38
Membre (2003)
anglais vers ukrainien
+ ...
| What is good for a Russian is death for a German | Jan 2, 2011 |
That's a local proverb. Indeed, as polyglot45 wrote, it has much to do with temperament: if you are a social animal, like human contact and don't mind office politics (nay, thrive on them), the salaried life would be for you. Otherwise, welcome to the world of freelancing - ideally as a high flying interpreter travelling the globe, interpreting for the bigwigs and getting paid top dollar. One can always dream !
For some, being one's own boss is an unbearable burned. Others can't imagine wasting a few hours daily for the travel to the job and back home. Some strive for stability salaried jobs seem to give. Others prefer the risks with the promise of higher income. There are both pros and contras to each way, and what I regard to be an advantage may be treated as a serious drawback by a colleague of mine.
Still, there's one definitely good thing about freelancing - at least, in my view. If we calculate the entire truly free time (the weekends are only to restore one's working ability, in fact) one gets if s/he works inhouse, it would amount to 2-3 weeks multiplied by roughly 40 years to reach the retirement age = 2 years and 4 months. This is the time modern society allocates to a worker/employee to do all the things in the world - visiting places, growing fancy flowers in the garden, going fishind with kids or picnicing with friends... Just over two years in the lifetime!
I'd rather stick to freelancing even if I have to take care of my own health and buy the bus pass for myself.
Cheers,
Oleg
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnie-Herzegovine
Local time: 21:38
Membre (2009)
anglais vers croate
+ ...
| My comparison/view | Jan 2, 2011 |
David Hollywood wrote:
I used to work in salaried employment as a translator and then went freelance (and enjoyed and accepted the freedom and the dangers involved). What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages of going independent?
[Edited at 2010-12-31 00:27 GMT]
I have experience in both, so here goes:
Freelance:
Advantages: creativity, freedom, variety of fields/projects, independence, you cannot get fired ( paradoxically it's a safer job than an in-house job, because you can always acquire new clients and drop the bad ones)
Disadvantages: instability, low rates, unregulated status, unregulated market, extremely high level of responsibility ( no other office colleagues to cover you), no paid sick leave, no paid annual leave, you must earn each cent with your own hands and head, isolation/lack of social contact, lack of oral language( freelance interpreting is rare). Lack of movement which can affect your health. Irregular work hours and unpredictability of future work which will make it hard for you to plan your activities or travels with your family/partner/friends.
Salaried:
Advantages: full work environment, sociability, paid sick leave, paid medical, paid annual leave, the work is much more relaxed, sometimes you earn your daily wage without translating a word ( never happens in freelancing), generally other people think for you, you don't have to think of everything, generally much more relaxed. Other people fix everything for you if you have a technical or other kind of issue in the office ( for free of course, while you must cover all these yourself as a freelancer, plus the full maintenance of your office). Plenty of movement around your company facilities ( even when you have an office job).
Disadvantages: colleagues often bring their private life to the office and you commonly share an office, then you are forced to listen to their stories totally irrelevant to the job you are doing(which is very tiring on a daily basis); narcissistic/incompetent bosses, potential for losing the job and staying jobless ( always present), abuse in terms of the workload (sometimes you get a daily volume totally surpassing your daily wage and you aren't entitled to the over-work pay), being stuck in one translation field therefore degrading in others because you don't get an opportunity to work in them and thus improve them.
[Edited at 2011-01-02 21:19 GMT]
| | | | Bruno Kristensen (X)
Danemark
Local time: 21:38
anglais vers danois
+ ...
Annie Estéphan wrote:
Hi !
Of course as a freelance translator you will have the freedom of working at home, choosing the text you want to translate, the volume you like, the deadlines you can take, you can also enjoy wearing what you feel like, cooking at home, not be stuck in the traffic and so on, the only thing is that sometimes you're in danger, if you don't have enough work, if you work for a few days and no one pays you etc. well you will see by yourself...
good luck
Annie
I'm a salaried translator (localization manager, really) and I enjoy wearing what I like, cooking at home, not being stuck in traffic and so on (I work from home), without the danger of not having any jobs for a while (I get the same, high salary, based on 200 hours/month whether there's work or not), so this is not something that only applies to freelancers.
But I realize not everybody is as lucky as me...
| | |
|
|
|
Williamson
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 20:38
flamand vers anglais
+ ...
A third category has been forgotten in the discussion: the well-paid international official who does not pays taxes to his/her own state, but to the institution he or she works for.
How many salaried translators do not earn an extra during end of day office-hours or after to work to compensate for a lower salary?
[Edited at 2011-01-03 11:45 GMT]
| | | | | Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » The freelance translator vs. the salaried translator | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
